Narcia walked out of the room with a sigh. She knew she had to be patient with Liam. Her bullying wouldn't be erased with one good action. Narcia lay her back against the door, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she closed them. Her inner wolf whined from being away from their sick mate.
"He will be fine. We took care of him as much as we could, Mia." She said to her wolf as she sighed and took off. It was almost time for her afternoon class to begin, so she might as well attend it to change her mind.
She walked in the class with her head low, both of her feet dragging behind her. She sat down at her usual spot, her face hidden in her arms that rested on the desk.
"See... I told you he was fine, Alpha. There was no reason for panic." Matheo said as he leaned back, frowning as he saw her. She did not look well at all. Her skin was very pale.
"He was in awful condition... Matt... He was so red, and his fever was dangerously high." She said in a small voice, her heart still aching from the sight.
"Shit! So he got worse? I swear he was okay when I left him this morning." He said as she shook her head, wet eyes puffy and red looked back at Matheo.
"He was struggling to even breathe. I barely managed to get his fever to lower... He kicked me out as soon as he regained consciousness." She said as Matheo sighed and gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I don't know what happened between you two. But I can tell that Liam is a nice guy... But you clearly hurt him, give him time to heal." Matheo said, causing her to sob into her arms. Having her mate so far hurt her a lot. Despite everything she had done against him, her love never stopped growing for Liam, no matter how much she tried to hate him.
She looked up when the scent of her mate hit her nose. Weirdly enough, her eyes seemed to be foggy. Matheo looked behind to see she was finally awake and smiled.
"You've been out for a while. Did you sleep well?" He asked as she groaned and shook her head. The scent came around again and reminded her why she woke up to begin with.
"Liam is here." She said as she stood up and bowed to the confused teacher before rushing out of the classroom, Matheo quickly mimicking her actions and following hot on her heals.
"I thought you said he was somewhat okay now. Why are we running!?" He asked as she stopped in her tracks, Matheo rammed into her back, causing them both to fall onto the ground.
"The smell... It's gone, I can smell he was here, but... It stops. Where did he go..." She said as she followed the smell backward, walking down the hall and making it all the way to the university gate. Her eyes grew wide as she covered her mouth in realization.
"He was taken... WHO TOOK HIM!?" She screamed as Matheo shrunk a bit in fear, his head twisting around as he tried to identify the second smell that was attached to Liam's.
His eyes widened with realization, quicjly grabbing his Alpha's arm and as his body trembled with rage. How could he let this happen? He knew this guy was dangerous, yet he left Liam alone. He was regretting it now.
"I know who took him." He said angrily, causing Narcia to growl. She could tell from the look on Matheo's face that he knew more than he seemed to let on. She brought him close to her face and glared into his eyes.
"Tell me everything." He comanded in her alpha voice, causing him to gulp and nod. He was ready for the rage she would lay on him afterward.
"Liam made this... Friend. Their name is Devan. I could tell he liked Liam, I wasn't sure why. He's shifter..." Matheo said as her claws grew, slowly inching closer to Matheo's throat.
"Why did you let him get closer... You're his roommate for a reason, Matt." She growled out, causing Matheo you sigh.
"I tried to warn him, they met before I met Liam... He clearly didn't listen to me." Matheo said as she let him go, rubbing the brink of her nose as she started to pace.
"You said he was a shifter. What pack is he from... Maybe we can get a deal with them." She said as she pushed some small hairs off her forehead.
"Um..."
"Matheo, stop stalling! Just tell me the pack, and I'll figure it out afterward." She said as Matheo gently grabbed her free hand.
"I never said he was a shifter wolf." Matheo said with a bit of fear. He knew she was going to lose control at any moment now. Her eye started to twitch as she turned her head towards him.
"Well..? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE!?" She screamed out with her hands in the air. Matheo really wanted the floor to swallow him. How was he supposed to deal with this.
"Remember the story your father told us after you ran from home one weekend..?" Matheo asked. The skin on her back crawled as she nodded.
-
Narcia, Matheo, Tammy, and two other little kids sat a bondfire, watching as the flames rose towards the sky. Many of the packs had drunkenly fallen asleep, and some were gone inside their tent. Their Luna had already gone to bed, but the Alpha, he had other plans.
"You fled from home this weekend, Narcia... That is not okay." Her father said as she looked down at the wood that crackled within the fire.
"Well... You and Luna had gone missing all week, Alpha." Matheo said to try and defend Narcia, her eyes softening at her loyal friend.
"That is not an excuse to abandon the pack! As our only child, you are the future of this pack. You are also an Alpha female, we do not see these much nowadays so you have to be careful." Her father said in a proud tone, making her nod in understanding.
"I just... I went somewhere safe, dad... I promise!" She said in a matching tone, her chest fluttering as she remembered her night spent in Liam's bed, being held with care as she cried for her parents.
"I think it's time I tell you kids why it's forbidden to leave the pack, or at least to go alone in the woods." He said as he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it up before taking a deep puff.
"As you know, there are many different types of shifters in our world. We are the wolf type. We shift into a timber wolf, its size variating on our strengths. There used to be 9 types of shifters aside from our own. There was the cunning Kitsunes, shifters that took the form of beautiful foxes. Some could be the size of a bear, others the size of a house cat. But that itself didn't give away their strength like us. Their strength was shown by the number of tails one had. From 1 tail to 10, you could tell if they were but a mere animal to an absolute nightmare." He told as the kids listened in awe, absolutely captivated by the man's story.
"The second was the Felines shifters. People that could shift in the most magestic killer cats out there. Tigers, Panthers, Lions, you name it. There are only but a few of them left. We call them the wisest of shifters as they mostly live longer than most of us and have a lot of accumulated knowledge." He said as he stood up, blowing a cloud of tobacco into the dark night.
"The third were the Saphire shifters. They could only shift in water, but could take the form of whatever water creature they knew. Dolphin, great white shark, lockness monster!" He suddenly jumped at the kids, making them gasp and hug each other. He chuckled as he took another puff and blew it out.
"The fourth one is a favorite of mine, the Reptile shifters. They could shape shift into any type of reptile known to man! Well... Aside from dinosaurs, of course." He chuckled out the last part, making the kids chuckle a bit in relief.
"The fifth is the Phoenix shifters. They are a rare kind of shifter that we have. They can turn into this large gilden bird. Their powers are very strong! They can set themselves on fire and even breathe fire!" Her said as the fire roared for a moment, making their little eyes grow.
"The sixth type is the Wing shifters. These were the original forms of the Phoenix shifters. These people can shift into any bird. Their size will obviously be huge compared to its original creature. If they became elevated in spirituality, they evolved into Phoenix shifters." He said with a smile, loving the attention he was getting from the little wolves.
"The seventh one was the dragon wyvern shifters. They have long been extinct, but we still have manuscrips of their existence among us. They would turn into these huge dragons, though they were unable to spit fire, they easily could grow big enough to swallow a house whole!" He yelled, the kids screaming in fear before he started laughing, some pouts appearing on their faces.
"The eighth shifter was the Forest shifters, also known as the guardians. They usually shift into magnificent princes of the forest. Large deer like creatures that watched over the forest and the people. There are pure hearted creatures that can not harbor hate." He said with a smile before sighing, the kids clearly having peaceful smiles after hearing of the guardians.
He knew he had to tell them at some point, but maybe tonight wouldn't be the night he would tell them.
"Daddy... I know we are the ninth shifter, but what's the tenth shifter?" Narcia asked as the man took his last puff, crushing the cigarette into the ground.
"I'm not sure you want to know, sweetie."
"I'm a strong girl! I can take on anything!" She said as she puffed her chest, her little friends cheering her on as she stood up to face her father.
"The tenth shifter... Is not a shifter we used to have. They are vile, disgusting beast known as the Corpse shifters." He said as the smile on his daughter's face fell.
"They are also known as Fallen shifters, creatures that have committed such a sin... That their animal can never recover from." He growled out as the kids trembled in fear, Narcia sitting down next to Matheo again.
"W-Whats the sin..." Tammy asked, not really wanting to know the answer to her question.
"The sin... Oh sweetie, it is like nothing you have ever known. It ruins them from the core and eats them from the outside. When they shift into their animal, the skin will start rotting as days go by without committing the sin again. So to preserve themselves and avoid their skin to start peeling off..." He started before abruptly stopping. He wasn't sure the kids could swallow what the sin was.
"W-What do they have to do, alpha?" One of the smaller kids asked as the others gulped.
"They have to continue eating other shifters. That's why they are also known as cannibal shifters. You can recognise them by the foul smell of rotting flesh." He finished as some of the little wolves had tears in their eyes.
-
"No... You can't be serious!" She said as she covered her mouth, pacing left to right. The attacks of those cannibals had ceased a long time ago. Or at least no new reported cases had come up in 5 years.
"I wasn't sure at first, but deep under the perfume... You can smell it... The rotten flesh smell." He said as she shivered.
Her heart sunk, and the air suddenly became cold and dry. She couldn't breathe anymore, her throat squeezed. Her mate was in danger, scratching that. He was most likely dead already. She fell to her knees, tears rushing down her cheeks as she gasped for air.
Her world had crumbled in an instant.